Most printing companies and packaging manufacturers order consumables as they run out: ink when the tin is empty, the blanket when it wears out or is damaged, chemicals only when they realise the container is empty or when the wash solution or fountain additive has run out. This fragmented approach not only increases the administrative cost of each individual order, it also ignores a simple fact: in any offset or flexo production workflow, dozens of different consumables are used up simultaneously, in parallel with the ink and the blankets. Ordered separately, they increase the logistics cost. Ordered together, in large quantities, across the entire range actually used in production, they reduce the cost per unit and eliminate the risk of running out of “secondary” materials — which stop production just as surely as a lack of ink.

Why fragmented orders increase the real cost

Every separate order involves time for requesting, processing, receiving and checking, plus a dedicated transport cost. Multiplied across dozens of small orders a year, this administrative cost frequently exceeds the difference in unit price between a small order and a consolidated one. To this is added the risk of stopping production when a constantly used consumable — a wash solution, an ink, a fountain additive — is not actively monitored and runs out of stock right in the middle of a run.

The complete range of consumables available in large quantities

Offset and flexo inks

Process ink and mixed ink in Pantone/HKS, mixed from Flint Group bases — Novavit BCS and Novaboard for sheet-fed offset on absorbent substrates, Novasens (ISEGA certified) for food packaging. 

For UV sheetfed presses, the range is completed by UV/H-UV curing inks compatible with coated and uncoated substrates and corona-treated films. For web presses, we offer Eurostar News inks suitable for cold-set newspaper presses, available in 25, 200 or 900 kg packs, and the Prem-Eco series for heatset — Prem-Eco BE for LVC, SC and newsprint substrates, and Prem-Eco Kryoset 7000, a low-energy ink that significantly reduces the drying oven's consumption. 

For security applications and special effects, we have photochromic, thermochromic, scented, iridescent, metallic and anti-counterfeiting reactive inks, available for offset as well as flexo and screen printing, on firm order. For flexography, the Curemax UV, Curemax LED and Curemax LED IDFC ranges (certified for indirect food contact), available both in CMYK colours and in an extended Pantone palette. We can also include consumables for digital equipment in the offer, as part of a package.

Printing blankets

For sheetfed presses, the IVO and Europa offset blankets offer optimum ink transfer for conventional inks, while Atlas Blue is dedicated to HeatSet and ColdSet web presses —  from Day International and Kinyo. 

For UV, H-UV and LED-UV inks we recommend Atenea, and for metal-deco applications Duco UV Sticky Back with adhesive backing. The coating blankets — Printcare StripperOne for water-based coatings and Prostrip SSRT for WB and UV coatings, including full-surface coating with Soft Touch, Satin and Matt effects — complete the range for the coating unit. 

Every blanket is cut to size, and the corresponding bar is professionally fitted separately for each individual order, according to the press. To these are added the packing materials, essential for uniform pressure in the printing process: colour-coded packing board by thickness, self-adhesive and non-adhesive PolyFoil films for the plate cylinder, and Finito® compressible underlays, which offer a service life up to six times longer than traditional underlays.

Printing chemicals

For processing CTP plates, each product family has its own developer and replenisher set — DT-2WE/DT-2RE for Superia LH-PLE, DT-XWE/DT-XRE for LH-PXE, IP-T9/R-T9 for Anitec thermal and CTcP, IP-T10 for Anitec V — completed by the FG-8E and FJ GU-7E solutions for protecting and storing plates long term. 

On the washing side, we have a wide range of wash solutions, FOGRA certified for automatic and manual systems — Varn V 60, Washmax 60.10, 40.30 and 60.32, Autowash 50WM, Combi Wash — alongside solutions for degreasing and revitalising blankets and rollers (MRC-LO, Xtramax Revival Wash R70 and R73) and System Cleaner for cleaning the fountain solution circuit. 

The fountain additives — Varn Ultra 4100, Supreme, Supreme 250, Hydrofast GH313 and GS312, SFF 9275, Journal Fount SEW-D, Sunday Fount, HSF 9209 — are chosen according to the type of dampening system, the water hardness and the percentage of isopropyl alcohol used, up to its complete elimination. We complete the range with pure or regenerated isopropyl alcohol and antifoam for the dampening system.

Printing coatings

We offer water-based coatings Senolith WB Gloss Coating, WB High Gloss Coating and WB Label High Gloss Coating for gloss finishes suitable for food packaging, WB Matt Coating for a matt effect, as well as special variants — gloss primer for preparing the substrate before UV coating, blister coating for heat sealing, and barrier coating against water vapour and grease. In UV curing coatings, we offer the Senolith range, which includes Foil Blockable & Gluable coatings (foiling and gluing), super gloss, gloss and matt (in different viscosities), suitable for coating units, the ink duct, flexo and screen printing, and for applications on board, paper, label paper and corona-treated films.

Printing plates

For thermal CTP systems, we offer Superia LH-PLE (300,000 sheet run length) and LH-PXE (500,000 sheets) from Fujifilm, as well as Anitec thermal, positive working with a run length of 250,000 sheets. For clients who want to eliminate chemical processing, Superia ZX is a chem-free plate which develops directly on the press and lasts over 200,000 sheets. 

For violet systems, Anitec V offers negative working and a run length of 250,000 sheets.  Anitec CTcP is the conventional plate variant, positive working with high durability. We can also include flexo photopolymer plates in the offer, as well as letterpress plates — exact product specifications are confirmed case by case, according to each client's technical requirements.

Double-sided tapes

Used for mounting flexographic plates, the DuploFLEX range comes in different thickness and hardness variants — soft, medium and firm — matched to the type of screen, solids or gradients

For industrial applications, Duplocoll 5110 is used in the furniture manufacturing and signage industries, Duplocoll 377 for coated or laminated paper/board substrates, and Unilock 810 for uncoated paper and board — all from Lohmann.

Printing adhesives

For bonding paper to UV-coated, laminated or PE/OPP film surfaces, we offer water-based dispersion adhesives from the Aquence range. 

For bookbinding, the Technomelt GA hot melt range covers spine gluing and side gluing, in variants with different working temperatures and open times, completed by Technomelt PUR for polyurethane spine gluing and Plakal for hot lamination of book covers, all from Henkel.

Printing auxiliaries

For prepress, we offer BC 8E gum solution for plate baking, deletion and addition pens for violet, processless and thermal CTP plates (CTP 1000, Deletion Pen, Adition Pen), anti-tone solutions for cleaning plates (Disoal, MC-E), printing sponges, solvent-resistant gloves and printing loupes. 

For printing, we have Varn anti-set-off powder in the R and C series, driers (Graf-O-Sicc, Drying Paste 3107), linseed oil, antiskin spray, antistatic spray and silicone spray, plus Thix colour printing paste and Reduxpaste 4800 for adjusting ink tack. For bookbinding, we offer RENZ Ring Wire metal spirals in a wide range of diameters, from 1/4" up to 1 1/4", in 2:1 and 3:1 pitch, available in standard and metallic colours, as well as calendar hangers in lengths from 57 mm up to 600 mm.

Oils and greases

For equipment maintenance, we offer Elkalub industrial lubricants, intended for protecting moving parts; the exact product range is confirmed when the offer is requested, according to the type of equipment and the operating regime.

Why chemicals, auxiliaries and accessories deserve to be included in every order

Nobody places an order enthusiastically for drier, RENZ spirals or gum solution. 

It is precisely this lack of visibility that makes them vulnerable to stock-outs: they are materials production constantly depends on, but which nobody actively monitors until they are missing. A printing company that pays attention only to the ink and blanket order, but treats the rest as secondary needs, remains exposed to exactly the kind of production stoppage it does not expect.

How a consolidated consumables package is built

A well-sized volume order starts from the complete technological workflow, not from a single category. Historical consumption for each category — ink, blankets, chemicals, coatings, plates, tapes, adhesives, auxiliaries, lubricants — has to be related to the real production volume, to the ordering rhythm, in order to avoid over-stocking in periods of reduced activity, to the available storage space, especially for chemicals and inks, and to the shelf life of each category, so as not to tie up stock that expires before it is used. 

The total quantity can be contracted once, with staggered delivery in batches, synchronised with the real consumption rhythm of each category as needed.

Frequent problems in consumables supply — and why more and more clients come to us because of them

Why do printing companies and packaging manufacturers end up looking for a consolidated supply solution? Most often, not because they want a change, but because their current ordering model — fragmented, reactive, built on different suppliers for each category — has begun to generate exactly the kind of problems we solve through a consolidated order.

The most frequent scenario: production runs normally until a replenisher or a “secondary” consumable — a wash solution, a fountain additive, a mounting tape — runs out of stock right in the middle of a run, because nobody was actively monitoring it. The client comes to us not with the question “how do I buy more cheaply”, but with the real problem: “why do we keep running out of materials exactly when we have the most work”. Our answer is not an emergency order repeated endlessly, but a plan for annual consumption across all relevant categories, with staggered delivery, so that stock no longer depends on how attentive someone on the team is on any given day.

Another frequent pattern: clients working with 3-4 different suppliers for ink, chemicals, blankets and tapes, because each was chosen separately, at a different moment, without a unified strategy. The result is a supply chain that is hard to track, different delivery times for each category and no price advantage for the total volume consumed, even when that volume is significant. Here the discussion with us starts from consolidating all consumable categories into a single offer, sized on real consumption, not on whatever is left to order.

There are also clients who have already tried larger volume orders, but ended up with capital tied up in stock that was not used in time — either because a chemical passed its shelf life, or because the volume ordered did not match the real production rhythm. This negative experience is why we insist on staggered delivery: the quantity is contracted once, but arrives in batches synchronised with consumption, not all at once into the warehouse.

A final category of questions concerns technical compatibility: whether a fountain additive works with the ink currently used, or whether a flexo tape is suitable for the type of job or plate used. These checks are always made before quoting, precisely to avoid a client coming to us with a compatibility problem that appeared after they had already bought the wrong product from someone else.

How to request an offer for consumables in consolidated quantities

The process starts from a discussion about everything that is actually consumed in production — not just about the main category the initial request is made for. If a client contacts us about mixed ink in large volume, the natural question is not only “how much ink”, but also which chemicals, blankets, tapes or lubricants are consumed in parallel, in the same technological workflow. This discussion is held with the technical team dedicated to each category — inks, chemicals, blankets, plates, adhesives, double-sided tapes or lubricants — so that the final offer reflects real consumption, not just the product that triggered the request.

On the basis of this discussion, we gather a few essential pieces of information: what quantities were consumed in the last year for each relevant category, how constant or seasonal the production rhythm is, what storage space is available for chemicals and inks, and whether there are technical compatibility restrictions with the existing equipment — for example, the laser type of the CTP system for plates, or the water hardness for fountain additives. This data does not need to be exact or centralised in advance — often the technical discussion helps to reconstruct it from previous invoices or orders.

On the basis of this information, Printman builds a package offer sized on real consumption, not on an arbitrary volume quantity. The offer includes both the main products and the secondary categories identified in the discussion — chemicals, auxiliaries, bookbinding accessories — which would otherwise be ordered separately, at unplanned intervals. Delivery is set to be staggered where necessary, in batches synchronised with the consumption rhythm, so that the total quantity is contracted once, without tying up storage space or capital in stock that is not used in time.

For a personalised consolidated supply offer, adapted to the complete technological workflow of your printing company, you can contact us at contact@printman.ro.

 

Frequently asked questions about consumable orders in large quantities

1. Which consumable categories can be included in a consolidated order?

The offer can include offset and flexo inks, printing blankets, chemicals (CTP processing, washing, fountain additives), coatings, printing plates, double-sided tapes, adhesives and printing auxiliaries, as well as industrial lubricants — essentially consumables for the entire technological workflow, not just a single category.

2. How do you avoid tying up money in stock that is not used?

The total quantity is contracted once, but delivery is staggered, in batches synchronised with the real consumption rhythm of each category — so that the stock in the warehouse corresponds to what is actually being used, not to an arbitrary quantity.

3. What information is needed to receive a volume offer?

An estimate of the quantities consumed in the last year for each relevant category is useful, along with the consumption rhythm (constant or seasonal), the storage space available for chemicals and inks, and any technical compatibility restrictions with the existing equipment. If this data is not centralised, the technical discussion helps to reconstruct it from previous invoices or orders.

4. Is the technical compatibility of the products with the existing equipment checked in advance?

Yes — for example, whether a fountain additive is suitable for the ink used, or whether a flexo tape matches the type of plate used. These checks are always made before the offer is finalised.

5. Who does the technical team address for each product category?

The discussion is held with the sales representative or the product managers dedicated to each category — inks, chemicals, blankets, plates, adhesives, double-sided tapes or lubricants — so that the final offer reflects the real consumption in the client's production workflow.